West Chester Chess Club News

To see all swiss and quad results, visit this USCF page. (Only completed events shown)

Nov 19 - Bob Flanagan

Nov 18 - Thanksgiving Swiss Rd 3 - Sean Pry

Nov 12 - Thanksgiving Swiss Rd 2 - Sean Pry

Nov 6 - Sean Pry

Here are the results and standings for the first round of the Thanksgiving Swiss. There was a match game as well: Millstein - Gordon 1-0

Oct 29 - Donald Anderson

Oct 27 - Ed Synder

Oct 14 - Bob Flanagan

  • Several changes to the club's web site:
    • A direct link on how to get to the club is now on the menu.  Clicking on a link will open google map to the church where we meet or to a nearby free parking garage
    • A Chess Announcements page has been added. It hosts announcements I receive of nearby chess events, meetings, or anything of chess interest.
    • A nearby chess club page and a nearby chess event page have been added.  The pages were hosted at the Tri State Club, but I decided hosting here would get more exposure.

Oct 13 - Ed Synder.  Results from the 3rd round. 

I definitely believe the two sections make for some quality competitive games. Quite a few Thursday night.  See you next week.  Ed

Oct 11 - Bob Flanagan

  • The 2022 YTD Match results have been updated through the Fall Swiss. It does not have results for the current Halloween Swiss, which is still running.

Oct 7 - Ed Snyder

A lot of interesting games last night in the Halloween Swiss, including five draws in the Open Section. It is definitely competitive.

Sept 30 - Ed Snyder

Sept 23 - Donald Anderson

  • Ten players from Denis Markov to Greg Nolan are contending for only 8 slots towards the 2023 Championship. The extra quad points are making things tight.
  • Next up, the Halloween Swiss, where we often see many upsets in this tournament. So, hang on.
  • 2023 Club Championship Qualifications - Ratings

Sept 16 - Donald Anderson

  • Next week begins the one night Thursday Knight Quads. 3 rounds, G30;d5.

Sept 9 - Donald Anderson, Round 3 results:

Sept 2 - Donald Anderson, Fall swiss round  2 results

August 26 - Donald Anderson, Round 1 Fall Swiss Results

August 25 - Donald Anderson

August 19 - Sean Pry

Aug 12 - Sean Pry

Final results for this year's Founders' Swiss.  There were 19 players in the open, Ratings ranged from 1225 to 2164. The U 1600 had 18 players, four of which were new to the USCF.

Aug 5 - Sean Pry

July 29 - Sean Pry

July 22 - Sean Pry

  • Founder's Swiss Round 1 results
    • Round 2 Open Standings, Round 1 Open Wall Chart
    • Round 1 U1600 Standings, Round 1 U1600 Wall Chart

July 14 - Ed Synder

July 7 - Ed Synder

July 1 - Ed Synder

  • Donald Anderson and Jim Larsen went late in an extremely close game which Jim pulled out with only 46 seconds remaining.
  • Neil Gordon and John Golden finished only a few minutes earlier in a very tight match which Neil won.
  • Round 3 results

May 27th - Donald Anderson

May 19th - Donald Anderson

  • We had 30 players last night. New unrated players Ian Millstein upset Sean Pry and Ryo Tarui defeated returning player Will Moyer. Robert Park defeated new player Ted Fooskas.
  • Round 2 results:
  • Thursday Knight Swiss Standings, rounds 1 & 2
  • Thursday Night Wall Chart, rounds 1 & 2

Comment from Jim Larsen:  What an amazing turnout, and some great games. Thanks for directing, Don.

May 12th - Donald Anderson

  • Good games tonight. Major upset. Young chess player Ariv Debmisra (1576) upset Kevin Chen (2130). And a shout out to Robert Flanagan (1521) for a valiant effort, but losing result, in his game with Jim Larsen (1986).
  • Round 1 results:

May 10th - Bob Flanagan

  • The club swiss match history for 2022 has been updated to show wins and losses of all 2022 players though the end of the last swiss, May 5th

May 9th - Donald Anderson

May 5 - Sean Pry

April 28th - Sean Pry

April 22nd - Sean Pry

April 14th - Sean Pry

April 5, Donald Anderson

Final results of March Madness Swiss has been posted to the USCF.  Check to view ratings and results!

March 25 Donald Anderson

Kevin Chen and Greg Nolan were presented trophies for being the 2022 Club and Reserve Champions, respectively. Congratulations to them both.

The new tournament season has begun with the March Madness Swiss. We will have 8 more tournaments until play starts to determine the 2023 champ. We'll be keeping a tally of each player's wins and draws as the year goes along to determine the the top 8 who will qualify for the Championship. Everyone else will compete in the Reserve.

March 25 - Round 4 Results, Donald Anderson

March 18 - Round 3 Results, Donald Anderson

March 11 - Ed Snyder - 2022 Club Championship

  • Here are the Championship's Final Standings. Congratulations to Kevin Chen who won outright. This was an exciting tournament and everyone involved made it interesting down to the last round.
  • Final Standings:

March 11 - Donald Anderson - Round 2 results

Mar 4 - Club Champion - Donald Anderson

  • This has been an incredibly entertaining and competitive tournament. With one more make up round remaining, there are three possible endings. We could have one absolute winner if Chen beats Bury, two Co-Champions if Bury beat Chen, or three Co-Champions if Chen and Bury draw.
  • There is only one game remaining: next week's match up Chen vs. Bury. Larsen and Mucerino are currently tied for first with 5.0/7, and Chen has 4.5 with one game to go.

Mar 4 - Donald Anderson

  • Thursday was the first round of the new swiss tournament, March Madness! (one can join in any Thursday)
  • Standings after round 1
  • First round matches:
  • Comments from members:
    • Donald:  Some tough games last night. Giliberto and Mahmood delivered a set of upsets and Vasquez-Murray and Sacarellos, although they lost, presented some tough match ups for Christofides and Fleming.
    • Keith:  Some of us have noticed how often various players have been playing above their ratings. It's dangerous to take anyone for granted these days!
    • Joe Mucerino:  Yeah, I got held to a draw by a 900 a few months ago.

Feb 26 - Ed Snyder

  • Here are the results of the 1st Make-up Round. Some good games, and both were upsets. Incredible play going on.  Next week with Bury/Larsen should be a good show.

Feb 25 - Donald Anderson

Feb 24 - Jim Larsen

  • Make-up round 1 results
  • Tonight's first week of make-up games was incredibly exciting. Aaron Biscoe beat Michael Bury, and Kevin Chen beat Joe Mucerino.  With only two games remaining, four players are still in the running to be champion or co-champion: Bury, Chen, Larsen and Mucerino. Next week will feature Bury-Larsen, and the following week, Chen-Bury.

Feb 18 Gap Swiss from Donald Anderson

Feb 18 Championship results from Ed Snyder and Jim Larsen

  • Round 7 results and standing - Ed Snyder: Here they are, after another fine night of games in the Championship. Three of the players have completed all of their games. The make-up games start next week with Biscoe/Bury and Chen/Mucerino. 
  • Round 7 cross table - Jim Larsen:
  • Comments from club members on the tournament:
    Ed Snyder      Amazingly, the three players that have finished all of their games are mathematically out of the running, so these next few weeks should be exciting.
     
    Jim Larsen   More great games last night. Kudos to Kevin Chen, who played an outstanding game to hand me my first loss in the event.
     
    Keith Johnson  

    Incredibly, there could still be a four-way tie for the top, if all of these happen: (1) Joe loses to Kevin and ends with 5; (2) Kevin beats Joe and draws Michael and ends with 5; (3) Jim beats Michael and ends with 5; (4) Michael draws Kevin, loses to Jim, and beats Aaron and ends with 5. Not likely, but still possible.
      

    Ed Kline   This is why I've been rooting for Mike this time. He's really not the favorite anymore the way he usually was, but it looks like he's playing well so far. I hope he wins because usually everyone is rooting against him, but lately, and especially now it's a really competitive tournament. I'm looking forward to trying to qualify for next year. Top 8 is gonna leave a lot of pretty good players out if everyone shows up regularly this year.
      
    Ed Synder   I totally agree, Ed. We have gained so many exceptional new players this year that there could be an unrecognizable Championship next year. And that’s a good thing.
      
    Keith Johnson   I can think of Michael Bury, Joe Mucerino, Greg Nolan, Kevin Chen, Jim Larsen, Nick Christofides, Ed Kline, Drew Fleming, Aaron Biscoe, Nate Bryans, Denis Markov, and myself (if I learn to start winning instead of merely playing interesting games) as twelve possible competitors, and that's if nobody else surges in the next year.
      
    Lance Marx   I'll be around on Thursdays now that the championship is wrapping, so maybe one more competitor! Looking forward to it!
    Ed Synder   I think you would have an excellent chance of being in it next year, Lance.
       
    Ed Kline  

    Welcome back Lance. Darn it! Now I'm gonna have to show up for all 40 weeks just to have a reasonable chance to get in. This is gonna be tough and therefore really interesting.

    Oh boy, it's gonna be hard guys.
    Mike Bury, Joe Mucerino, Greg Nolan, Lance Marx, Kevin Chen, Jim Larsen, Nick Christofides, Andrew Fleming, Aaron Biscoe, Keith Johnson, Nate Bryans, Denis Markov, Mel Ross, Nick Lampros and myself are the top rated 15 vying for only 8 spots.

    Every game counts gentleman, don't say you weren't warned.

    No disrespect to anyone not in the top 15 rated. Show up, play well, and take your shot.
      

    Jim Larsen   It's gonna be epic!
         

Feb 11th Gap tournament results from Donald Anderson

  • Feb 11 match results
  • We had an upset last night: Hopkins defeated Bryans. We have a tough club so anything can happen next week. See you then…

Feb 11th Championship results from Ed Snyder and Jim Larsen

  • Round 6 Results and standings
  • Round 6 Crosstable
  • Jim: I too find the championship games to be incredibly exciting. Johnson-Chen in particular was an amazing game. Keith played superbly but was tripped up by Kevin's heroic counter play.
  • Ed:
    • To me this is exciting, as it is to many others. Watching the endings of championship games is tense and you can feel that tension as well as the drama. Thanks to all the players for this experience.
    • Joe Mucerino and Jim Larsen remain tied for first, but this is complicated by the fact that o many games have been postponed.
    • Last night was only the second time all players were present.

Feb 4th - Ed Snyder and Jim Larsen

Jan 28th - Reserve Swiss Round 4 - Sean Pry

Jan 28th - Championship results - Jim Larsen

Jan 27th - Round 4 Championship results - Ed Synder

  • Only due to Covid, and because it wasn't announced prior to the beginning of the tournament there will be a week nine, unless Bury and Larsen can mutually agree to meet in the interim and play their game.  Next year all rounds will be completed by week eight.  I expect that this will mean that Michael and Jim will miss the first round of play toward points for next year's championship.
  • Championship schedule

Jan 22th - Reserve Swiss Results through Round 3 - Sean Pry

Jan 21 - Round 3 Championship results - Ed Synder

Jan 14th - Reserve Swiss Results through Round 2 - Sean Pry

Jan 14th - Championship Results through Round 2 - Ed Synder

  • Here are last night's results for Round 2. Some terrific games, as usual. It's interesting and will only become more so as we move through the tournament. Good luck to everyone.
  • WCCC Championship through Round 2

Dec 30th - Championship Seed Positions, schedule , and Reserve Swiss

The 2022 WCCC Championship begins next Thursday, January 6. I thought that all active club members would be interested in following this event. I have included the schedule and Jim Larsen will update the weekly results which we will forward to you.

Keep in mind that everyone that plays on Thursday evening is eligible to get into next year's championship. It's simple. The eight players with the highest point total at the end of the year get in, depending only on ties for the last spot. The points start accumulating after the championship is completed.

Also, keep in mind that everyone not included in the championship can still come on Thursday and play rated games in the reserve section. One benefit of this is that we will not be facing those eight top players.

I wish all of you a very HAPPY NEW YEAR!!.

Championship Schedule

Here are the numbers which coincide with those on the "Grid" that I sent earlier. If you have that you can see who you will play and in what round. I will send out the schedule by date and by name, rather than number in the next day or two. GOOD LUCK TO EVERYONE.

BYW, Keith drew Denis Markov in a long battle which saw each with less than 10 seconds. Nolan lost to Joe Mucerino, so Keith is in by a point and a half. Good fight all the way. I congratulate all of you.

1 Keith Johnson
2 Kevin Chen
3 Joe Mucerino
4 Aaron Biscoe
5 Nick Christofides
6 Drew Fleming
7 Jim Larsen
8 Michael Bury

It seems that the consensus is that next year we assign the positions in the Championship based on their positions in which they finish the year. This system should create a desire to get more points during the year, so maybe not accepting a draw would be advantageous. For those of you that were not present tonight or have not weighed in on the email discussion, please feel free to share your thoughts. Remember, this is a club and should be exciting and fun. I believe this change adds both.

Dec 24, 2021 - Round 4 results from Ed Synder

Dec 17, 2021 - Championship Standings from Ed Synder

It's getting tighter and more exciting. Nick Lampros, even with a half point bye for last night is mathematically out. He joins me. Bob Flanagan is still in the hunt even with a loss last night.

 

Christofides 23.5
Mucerino 22
Chen 21
Larsen 19
Fleming 18
Biscoe 18
Bury 17.5
Johnson 16

In the hunt still:
Nolan 15.5
Flanagan 14

Dec 17, 2021 - Holiday Swiss Results

Dec 10, 2021 - Championship Standings from Ed Snyder

 

Christofides 22.5
Mucerino 21
Chen 20
Larsen 19
Fleming 17
Biscoe 17
Bury 16.5
Johnson 16

In the hunt still:

Nolan 15.5
Flanagan 14
Lampros 13

   
Dec 10, 2021 - Thursday night Holiday Swiss results from Ed Snyder

Dec 8, 2021 - Championship Standings from Ed Snyder

 

In an attempt to keep everyone in the running apprised of where you stand, I am updating the scores for those eligible for the Club Championship. I'll do this after each round.  Keep in mind that half point byes count as zero and full point byes as a half toward the total. This is the way it has always been counted.

Christofides 21.5
Mucerino 20.5
Larsen 19
Chen 18.5
Fleming 17
Biscoe 17
Bury 16.5
Johnson 16

In the hunt still:

Nolan 14.5
Flanagan 13
Lampros, N 12

I am now out of the running. With 10.5 and four games remaining I cannot catch Keith.

I would like the top eight to consider whether or not they will play. If you intend to drop out please let me know. The Championship will start on January 6. I will need to have those that will be playing choose their "chips" to see where you will be placed hopefully by December 30 or before. I'll be doing that as soon as we are sure who will be in and who will not make the cutoff.

    
Dec 3, 2021 - 1st Round Holiday Results from Ed Snyder

Nov 22, 2021 - 2021 Club Match Results from Bob Flanagan

  • Updated to include the Halloween Swiss.  This shows the wins, draws, and losses both overall in 2021 club play and head to head play versus other club players.
  • 55 active players! (two or more matches)
  • 22 new players!
  • 3 returning USCF players who played years ago!

Nov 20, 2021

  • Halloween Swiss Results from Sean Pry
  • From Donald Anderson:
    • The Top 8 players compete for Club Champion on January 6 (all others for the Reserve Champion).
    • We have one tournament left for the year (Holiday Swiss starting December 2).
    • Four players can still catch the 8th player and potentially qualify for the big dance.
    • Congrats to Nick Christofides for making Expert (2023)! Nick went 5-0 in the latest tournament (defeating players rated 2037, 2200 and 2091).

Nov 11, 2021 - Halloween Swiss Round 4 from Sean Pry

Nov 11, 2021 - Halloween Swiss Round 3 from Sean Pry

Oct 29, 2021 - Halloween Swiss Round 2 from Sean Pry

Oct 26, 2021 - Halloween Swiss Round 1 from Sean Pry

Oct 16, 2021 - Club Ratings Championship standings from Donald Anderson

  • The above link is to to the standings for the club's championship tournament.  The top 8 in the standings will play in the club championship.  A swiss will be held for those not in the championship.

Oct 15, 2021 - Founder's Swiss results from Donald Anderson.  The last round was played yesterday.  Don, many thanks for running the event!

The Player Ratings Chart and match results for 2021 matches has been updated with the results from the Founder's Swiss has been updated. It shows the player ratings as of Oct 15th and the wins and losses versus other club players.

Oct 8, 2021 - From Donald Anderson

Oct 1, 2021 - From Donald Anderson:  Some upsets this week. Flanagan had a draw against Biscoe and Anderson won over Trueman. On a side game Gotlib was victorious over Biscoe

Sept 24, 2021 - From Donald Anderson

Sept 11, 2021 - Club standings have been updated for the Liberty Swiss results

Sept 10, 2021 - Ed posted the final results on the USCF club tournament page of the Liberty Swiss

Sept 5, 2021 - Round 4 Liberty Swiss standings from Ed Synder

August 30, 2021 - Club ratings for championship tournament from Donald Anderson

August 27, 2021 - Round 3 Liberty Swiss standings from Ed Synder

August 20, 2021 - Round 1 and 2 results of the Liberty Swiss

August 16, 2021 - First round results for the Liberty Swiss.  You may join the swiss at any round!  You must be fully vaccinated

April 29, 2021 - We are back playing USCF matches on Thursday's.  One must be fully vaccinated.

April 5, 2019 - Our web site was launched!

April 4, 2019 - March Madness Thursday night results posted.  Please see the link at the top for details.

March 2019 - We moved to a new bigger location for our growing club!  We play USCF matches starting at 7:30 as always.  Our new location is First Presbyterian Church, 130 West Miner St, West Chester, PA